Reflection and Visitations
by Minarvia
Summary: After killing the leader of the Red Dragon, Kenshi and Takeda take a moment to reflection on all of the events that had lead them up to this point. While at that time, Kenshi gets a vision of a danger that he had long thought gone. Based off Kenshi, Takeda, and Ermac MK10 endings, read the story and you will fine out why this was included.


**Copy write info** : MK and all characters that are from that game are owned by Tobias and Boon, I own nothing.

 **Reflections and Visitations**

Sitting down at a small mountain feed stream there was a man that was kneeing down at the bank, washing off his sword, removing all of the blood, tissue, and corruption that came from slaying human lives. This man was Kenshi Takahashi, also known as the blind swordsmen, or the sightless one, but to the ones that he had killed today he was known by another name, the blade of vengeance. This was due to the fact that they were members or the criminal cult/organization that was known as the Red Dragon and while this dubious title had put them on almost every law enforcement, while this was one of the many reasons that Kenshi went after them, it wasn't the main reason why. For the main reason why he went after them was the fact that this organization had killed, Suchin, his lover and mother to his only son, Takeda that made him vowed vengeance on them.

It nearly took him ten long years of planing for Kenshi to have this day, as he was wiped off the blood off from his family sword, Sento, it allowed him to reflect on this day and all of the key events that had lead him up this moment. In looking back and with a much more cooler head, he could see that taking revenge for Suchin's murder, did provide a much needed release for him and his son. He also had to face the harsh truth of reality of this action, the death of the Red Dragon's leader, Daegon, still won't give him the one thing that he wanted so badly in the world, Suchin. In retrospect, he wondered was it truly wroth it, or was he simply lying to himself. It wasn't like with Shang Tsung and the theft of his ancestor's souls, which was something that could be returned, but with Suchin's life that was something that would never be returned to him in the way that he wanted.

Sure he could plead his case return her back to the land of living to the Elder Gods, Raiden, or even Quan Chi, but he wondered, what price would he or even she would pay to come back alive if his request was granted. No, he quickly banished the thought of her coming back alive, he didn't want her to become some misshapen twisted version of what she used to be. He had seen and fought with revenants before, because of that he knew that they were only a mere shadow of the person that they were once, fulled by only their darkest emotions. No, Kenshi loved Suchin way too much to subject her to that faith. She was best left dead and his memories of his time with her would be the only thing that would keep her alive.

It seemed to him that the world had completely open up to him with so many paths that he could take and it seemed that he was at a crossroad in his life. So many questions popped up in the mind of the telepath, that it made him a little anxious, a feeling that the swordsmen didn't enjoy all too much.

Among the numerous questions that were on his mind was would he be willing to stay with the S-F or would be retired, like Jax did, but that all depends on his son, Takeda, and what would he do. If Takeda opted to stay with S-F, he would no doubt stay with the S-F, to stay close to his son. Also to keep an eye out on him as well, while his son's metal skills had improved dramatically, he still had issues that needed to be ironed out. Like the fact that whenever he used on of his telepathic skills he had to put two fingers on the right side of his head, something that Kenshi himself was guilty of doing, but that was when he was younger and using a telekinetic skill, not his telepathy that seemed to come naturally to him. While Kenshi knew that it was his son's way of focusing and making sure that it worked, he would like his son not to do like that.

Now if Takeda opted to leave to the S-F, which Kenshi question would happen, due to his son's love interest with Jax's daughter, Jacqui, he would also leave. If that was the case where would he go, would he stay in the US, that had been like a second home country to him, and if he did, he knew that his citizenship would be fast tracked, do his involvement with the S-F. Or would he return to Japan where he was born, where he grew up, and if he did he would visit the graves sites of his mother and father, something that he had only did once in his life. He just didn't know what to do.

Kenshi no could longer smell the metallic sense of blood and that meant that he had washed away all of the human remains from his sword. So he placed the weapon back into its scabbard and got himself up from the back of the stream. As he did that he quickly noticed the change in the environment, which briefly put him on an edge and just as fast he did he realized that it was nothing more than the sun rays of light that had shifted, a normal natural occurrence as day slowly shifted to night. Which, also meant that himself, Takeda, and a new ally, Taven, had to find shelter before night forced them to shut down.

So Kenshi scanned the area via his spirt vision and found out that he was all by himself and that didn't convince him one bit because he safely assumed that all three of themselves had gone their separate ways to do what he did, to reflect on the past events.

With that Kenshi reached his son through his telepathy and he found out that his son wasn't taking the time on refection in his life, but was doing something that slightly surprised the older Takaskaski. He was trying to test his telekinetic skills to see if they could match his father and Kenshi found out that he couldn't. This in turn frustrated the younger Takaskaski, knowing the fact that his father's telekinetic skills were well horned and plus the fact that he was showing signs of this skills only compounded the issue for him. This reminded him of the conversation that he had with his son when the two of them disguised their metal powers and how he wielded them far better than his son. He explained that he was younger than his son, and it took him ten long hard years to developed them to the level that he had and that unlike Takeda he was motivated.

This only made Kenshi only shakes his head at the efforts of his son.

 _Takeda, we have to find some type of shelter_ , _or make one ourselves_ thought Kenshi.

The sudden sound of his father's soft spoken voice inside of his head had caused Takeda to jump out of his skin and it forced him to put two of his fingers on the right side of his head.

 _Whoa, Dad, you should have given me a warning next time you do something like that_ thought Takeda. _And why? It's not dark yet._

 _Sense of urgency_ thought Kenshi.

 _Okay than_ thought Takeda.

 _Good, I'll fine Taven_ said Kenshi.

 _Fine_ said Takeda.

With that Kenshi terminated the metal link between the two of them and put up his metal barriers to block any random thoughts that he might be able to sense despite the fact that they were in a remote forest. One couldn't be too careful, there could still be members of the Red Dragon that were still around trying to figure out what just happened or there could be ones that did know what happened and they were looking for blood to avenge their fallen leader. If there was any one of them out there looking for them all three of them would be ready to take them out.

Kenshi made his way around a small hill and as soon as he reached the other side, he was hit by a powerful presence, but a slightly recognizable one. With that he knew that Tarven was close by and in a matter of seconds via his spirt vision, he was able to see the aura of Taven, a different aura that he had only sensed before and that was when he first faced Daegon on a bridge that overlooked a pit that was fulled with spikes in his third and final fight in his first Moral Kombat tournament.

"Taven," said Kenshi.

"Yes, Kenshi," said Taven.

"We need to fine shelter," said Kenshi.

Kenshi watched as Taven looked around his surroundings. "Yes, I was on my way to suggest the same."

"Good, now we have to wait for my son to show up," said Kenshi.

Taven nodded his head at that. "Do you know how long it will take?"

"Not long," answered Kenshi.

After that he open up his mind to see where his son was at and he was able to sense that he was just behind the hill that he just had passed by. Then after that he closed up his mind once again.

Then right after that Takeda made his appearance in front of the two of them.

"So what is the plan?" Asked Takeda.

"I was talking to your father about looking for shelter," said Taven.

"Yes and soon, by my judgement we have about two or three hours before sunset," said Kenshi.

"So we should get going," said Taven.

* * *

In a matter of twenty minutes the three of them founded a cave that was a safe distance from a river and was dry. Once inside of the cave, the three of them divided up the labor, with Taven taking the job or protecting the area and giving them fair warning if there were any Red Dragon warriors in the area. While Takeda took the job of gathering wood or any other debris that would be burnable, and Kenshi took the job of cleaning up the cave to his best of his skills that this would be the place that the trio of them would be sleeping the night.

While Kenshi was cleaning up, Takeda came in with a bunch of twigs, scrapes of tree bark, and a bunch of pine needles. Without saying anything, Takeda put all of the debris into a ring of rocks and looking at all of the things that were collected, he figured out that it wasn't enough so he thought that he should go out for another trip. He was about to do that until he almost walked into Taven.

"Sorry, I didn't see you," said Takeda.

Taven put up his hand. "Its okay, and I think you should stay in the cave."

This caught the attention of Kenshi that stood up. "Why? Are there any more Red Dragon warriors out there?"

Taven shook his head at Kenshi's question. "No, that isn't the case, I saw two Brown Bears cubs out there."

That caused Kenshi to relax a little, because he knew that a good majority of wildlife would avoid humans all together, unlike the Red Dragon. But, while it was good to hear that it wasn't the Red Dragon, that still didn't mean that they were out of the woods. That was due to the fact that there was bear cubs out there and Kenshi knew like anybody that spent a good deal time out in the woods, which when one spotted bear cubs the mother bear was very close by. While the cubs themselves won't the threat, it was the mother bear that was the threat to a person's life. For a mother bear would do anything to protect her Young, even forgo her natural instinct to avoid humans and it seems that Taven also knew it as well.

"That's not good," said Kenshi.

"Why?" Asked Takeda.

"For there is nothing more dangerous in the world as a mother that is protecting her Young," answered Kenshi that in a second had some flashbacks of the carnage that Suchin did with the wakizashi that Kenshi had lent to her to the Red Dragon grunts before they shot her.

"Yes, it's better for the three of us to stay here and maybe the presence of the fire might encourage the bears to stay away from us," said Taven.

"Oh good," said Takeda.

"But that's not a totally true, for like us, animals can be unpredictable and they could less about the fire and still come in here and attack us," said Taven.

 _Oh great_ Takeda said to himself.

"So to make sure that we aren't attack while we are sleeping, I suggest that each of us go on a watch," said Taven. "And I will take the first watch."

Neither Kenshi nor Takeda objected to this plan.

"I think I should get this fire started," said Takeda. Then the telepath pulled out a matchbook and took out a signal match with the intentions of trying to light a signal piece of bark.

"You don't need to that," said Taven.

"Why?" Asked Takeda.

With that Taven brought up on his hand and in seconds his hand was ablaze with fire. After that he pointed toward the pile of debris and in seconds after that a fireball came out of his hand. Right on impact the forest litter was set ablaze with fire.

"Whoa! That's a neat trick," said Takeda.

"Yes it is, for I can control the element of fire much like my late brother Daegon," said Taven.

 _Well that explains it_ thought Kenshi at that statement. With that he had yet another brief flashback and this time it was his fight with Daegon and how the Red Dragon leader had won over him in the last Mortal Kombat contest. With a blast of a fireball that had caught him off guard, because of that he wasn't able to reflect the fireball back at him with Sento like he normally would do when a fighter would throw something at him and because of that lapse of judgement on his part he had found himself vulnerable to a final attack at the hands of Daegon. Luckily for him this part of the tournament didn't have people killing the weakened fighter and that time, Daegon only knew him as another fighter that he had to overcome if he wanted to advance in the tournament, not as a spy much later in life. So instead of killing him, Daegon had only knock him out with a punch to his gut and mocked him as a fool in thinking that he even had a chance in fighting Shang Tsung.

"Now I suggest that the two of you get some sleep, you will need it," said Taven.

"We'll try," said Kenshi.

After saying that the three of them went their own different spots in the cave. With Taven taking the spot of sitting in front of the fire, doing the job of keeping it's lit and making sure that nothing would come into the cave to attack the three of them. Kenshi headed toward the back of the cave, seeing that it was the quietest spot in the cave, he sat down, and lean up against the surprising smooth cave wall and he found himself quickly falling asleep. Takeda on the other hand thought it was best that he should stay as close as he could to the fire despite the warring that Taven said that the fire might not protect themselves from the local wildlife. He lay down on the cave's floor with his face facing toward the cave's roof and before he knew it, Kenshi's son quickly found himself drifting off to sleep despite the fact that Taven was watching him.

* * *

Finding himself in his dreams, Kenshi found himself in the same cave that he had laid himself to sleep and despite what most people assumed with blind people, that they didn't see in their dreams, happen to Kenshi. That while he was dreaming his curse of blindness was a non factor and it also was a clue to him that he was in fact dreaming, something that a majority of people couldn't do. This had lead Kenshi to discover that he in fact had a form of dreaming called lucid dreaming, in which he could control his dreams and maybe fine out what they were trying to tell him.

So Kenshi got up from the cave floor and looked around the area, to see if there were any encrypted messages that could be written anywhere. When he did that he noticed that the cave was dark and devotes of anybody, something that tricked him off, despite the fact that he knew that this was a dream. A warrior instinct, he mused to himself even in a dream that part of himself that was something that he couldn't be suppressed. Even with that he still surveyed the cave to see if anything that either his own mind and/or his ancestors were trying to tell him in his dream state. While discovering lucid dreaming, Kenshi found out that while a person was dreaming they were more able to sense hidden messages or symbols, he more so since he was a telepath.

It was because of his searching for anything that seemed to be out of the normal, and with a dream that could be anything, he didn't notice that there was a presence that was lurking behind him. Looking at him trying to judge him to see if he was friend or foe and by looking at him, seeing his actions, knowing that they were familiar, the presence thought that it was time for it to relieve itself to Kenshi.

"Kenshi," said the presence in a soft gentle female voice that had familiar accent.

The familiar female accented voice caught Kenshi off guard and made him second guess himself, was he truly hearing that female voice or not. Then he heard the voice again and this time he knew without a question in his mind he was really hearing that voice, but was it is true, was he truly hearing the voice of Suchin. While a part of himself wanted to believe, another part of himself, his more sensible side had told him not to be trusting and that he should expect the unexpect when he turned around to see what type of entity that was behind him that was calling out his name in the voice of his late lover, much akin to the Sirens of ancient Greek myth.

He sighs and turned around to face that thing, whatever it maybe. When he did that he was floored by whom he saw standing there. It was no demon nor an evil spirt that was playing tricks on him, it was his late lover Suchin standing there. Dream or not, Kenshi did not care, for this was fact the first time in his life that he saw her without the aid of his spiritual vision and he could see that her physical beauty was equal to her spiritual beauty.

Because of this, Kenshi found himself letting go of his emotions by shivering, not because he was cold, but he was socked by this, and put his hand over his mouth. So many questions flooded his mind, like a how did this happen at this time and more importantly _**why**_ did this happen.

"Suchin, . . . is that . . . really you?" Inquired an emotionally shaken Kenshi.

"Yes," responded Suchin.

"How? You were killed so many years ago?" Asked a confused Kenshi.

"Your ancestors, they drew my soul here," answered Suchin.

This answer partially drew himself out of his state of awe, knowing that Suchin wasn't one of his ancestors.

"How is that even possible? You're not one of my ancestors, and we live at the same time," asked Kenshi.

"Not yours, our son's," she said.

With that Kenshi felt like an idiot, he didn't consider that angle. "Yes, of course, why didn't I think of that."

"Now do you trust me?" She asked.

"Of course," answered Kenshi as he moved closer to her, convinced that this was the real spirit of Suchin and not some creature that was wearing the guise of his late lover.

While Kenshi was doing that, Suchin was doing the same and in doing that she noticed several alterations with him since the last time that she had seen him. The two biggest differences were the fact that he wasn't wearing his customly ruby color blindfold and that he was now sporting a beard that showing signs of greying, a clear sign that he was getting older.

"Kenshi, you aren't wearing your blindfold, was your curse broken?" Asked Suchin who was only a handful of people in the world that knew about the real reason behind his blindness, how he was able to navigate the world without the use of sight, and his extraordinarily relationship with his sword.

"No, it wasn't, I am still blind in the real world, for in my dreams my blindness doesn't exist," answered Kenshi.

"Oh," she said as she found her eyes being drawn to his face and most importantly his eyes, that weren't the milky white irises that she had seen before, but they were blue, a rare trait for people of Asian decence.

Suchin's observation on his appearance didn't go unnoticed by Kenshi. "You notice the color of my eyes, blue, which is a clear sign of my European heritage."

"In our time together, you never mention that detail about yourself," said Suchin.

With that the metaphorical hairs on the back of his neck stood up, Kenshi knew that in many of their various conversations that they had about each other, that subject did come up, but he disregards it, thinking that she might have forgot it. Even if she did, it did put the swordsman on alert, that she might not be whom he thinks she is, but Kenshi remained stoic toward her, not tipping her or whatever this entity might be that he was aware of it.

"You never asked," said Kenshi.

Suchin was about to say something to Kenshi, but she stopped when she felt a sudden stabbing pain in her body, a pain that was so intense that it made her double over in pain. Her distress didn't go unnoticed by Kenshi.

"Suchin, are you okay?" Asked a concerned Kenshi.

Suchin looked up at Kenshi with anxiety, a look that didn't go unseen by the telepath. "No, I'm not, and I can feel myself being pulled to the Netherrealm."

Kenshi utter a sigh in resolve at these ill tidings about his late lover. "I won't let that happen."

"I know you won't let that happen, but you must use Sento and draw my soul into your sword. To do that . . . " started Suchin.

Kenshi put his hand up because he knew he had to do to kept Suchin's soul with him, he had to stab the sprit image of Suchin in the chest to drawl her inside of Sento, which was something that he wasn't going to relish, but if he wanted to keep her, he had to do it. So he started to do that and then he got a sudden chill down his spine, hinting to him that something wasn't right about this, combining this with the statement that Suchin had made earlier about not knowing about his mixed heritage, made Kenshi paused and took a couple of mental notes about this.

Kenshi heard another scream of pain from what he had taught was Suchin and it tugged at his heartstrings, as his emotional side was screaming at him to save Suchin's soul. But, his other side, the more reasonable side was telling him to hold up and not do this, to wait. It was this side of himself was starting to gain the upper hand in this internal struggle that he had with himself, to see if this was really the sprit of Suchin.

"Kenshi, what are doing? Don't you want to keep me around?" Asked Suchin.

"Oh yes I do, but only _if_ you were the _real_ Suchin," answered an accusing Kenshi.

"What are you talking about, I'm the _real_ Suchin," pleaded Suchin.

Now this time Kenshi pulled out Sento and made the sword glow a pale light blue. After that Kenshi nodded his head at what the sword told him telepathically that he didn't want to hear, but he had accepted that it was the truth and with a painful expression on his face the blind swordsmen knew what he had to do.

After that he pointed the blade of the sword toward Suchin. "I don't know whom or what you are, but I know that _you're_ not the real Suchin. So I ask, what are you?"

With an evil, but a familiar, laughs came from the thing that was dressing itself up as Suchin and with the sound of the laugh, the swordsmen knew in seconds whom this person was that was masquerading itself as Suchin, it was Shang Tsung, the very same person that had tricked him so many decades ago.

"I think you know what I am and whom I am," said the image of Suchin.

Kenshi knew what the image of Suchin was saying, but he didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to believe that Shang Tsung, had almost tricked him again and used the same tactics as before, the use of his emotions. Instead of playing on his pride, he played on his longing of his dead lover and despite his telepathy and his spiritual vision that he had believed would have allowed him not to be fooled like before, but yet again it almost happen to him.

"No, that's not possible, you were killed by your so-called boss nearly 25 years ago," said Kenshi. "And with him dead, there is no way that you should have returned."

An evil sardonic smile appeared across the face of the image of Suchin. "That's true, swordsman, but there are other ways for me to return. Ask one of my creations about it, if it manage to survive the encounter with me."

With that the wheels in Kenshi's mind started to turn, for the swordsman only knew of two creations that Shang Tsung had created that he had seen, they could be more hidden somewhere throughout Outworld, unaware of what they were. One of them was Mileena, the half Edenian, half Tarkatan clone of Kitana and the other was Ermac, a construct that housed 10 thousand souls that possess some of the same telekinetic skills of his own. With that thought about the entity that was known as Ermac, the swordsmen concluded that the soul stealer was refereeing about Ermac and how he must have stolen the souls that were inside of him.

"I can see that you have figured it out already," the image said.

"Are you so desperate to come back, that you would turn into a cannibal, devourer of your own creation, to destroy it?" Asked Kenshi.

"What is the power of a creator to destroy their own creation?" The image said to him, acting like it was some type of deity.

Kenshi nodded his head at that. "You are right about that."

Before Shang Tsung knew it, Kenshi had use one his telekinetic skills, to push the soul stealer up against the cave wall, with so much force that it knocks the image of Suchin out of him. He also found out that he was unable to move due to the fact that it felt like something like a brace was holding him up.

"What the hell was that?!" Shang Tsung asked to himself.

Shang Tsung knew that Kenshi was a seasoned and well-trained telekinetic much akin to that of Ermac, but Kenshi's skills were anemic when compare to Ermac's, but that was 25 years ago and it seemed that in that period of time, the swordsman had gained quite some command over his telekinetic power.

"I wasn't aware that you could do that," said Shang Tsung as he struggled to break free of the invisible restrains.

Kenshi slowly walked into the view of his target, the soul stealer, Shang Tsung, with his hand out glowing a blue aura that was also reflected in his eyes that were also displaying the same Eire color. "My dream, my rules, Soul stealer."

Without saying another word, Kenshi increases the constricting force on Shang Tsung's neck and in a few seconds, Kenshi was able to tell that this metal image of the sorcerer was dead. With that the swordsman release the grip on the now dead sorcerer's neck and without his telekinetic hold, Shang Tsung's body fell unceremoniously onto the floor of the cave.

After that the swordsman walked over to the body of the sorcerer to see if he was still alive despite that fact that he had put him in a choke hold, much akin to the fictional character of Darth Vader from the American SF epic movie series called Star Wars and with that train of thought Kenshi did a slight laugh at it. He did recall how Johnny Cage had once referred Sento as a lightsaber when he had seen him summon the spirts of his warrior ancestors inside and made the sword glow a light blue. But, Johnny wasn't the only one who made a Star Wars reference about him, one of the base personnel had once called him a Jedi when he had practiced one of his telekinetic skills and before he became blind, Kenshi did see the original trilogy numerous of times.

Even if this was a dream, the real Shang Tsung would be a much more laborious effort on his part, he would of use more of his tricky on him. It still felt good for him to release some of his bottled up and suppress anger toward the soul steeler. But, that very same furry that he had used as his motivation had once again returned to his body with the stone-cold truth that despite his action in this dream, the real Shang Tsung was still alive and still out there somewhere among the different realms.

"Whenever you are, sorcerer, I will fine you and end you," vowed Kenshi.

"And I will enjoy or little game of cat and mouse again," started the voice of Shang Tsung that seemed to full up the cave. "But, it seems that there is another player in our little game."

With that statement, an icy chill went down Kenshi's spine, for Shang Tsung had accidently disclosed that he knew about his son, despite the fact that he was born during the time that he was dead. While, Kenshi wanted to know how Shang Tsung discovered the fact that he had a son, at this time it didn't matter how he was able to do it, all the matter at this time was the fact that he knew about his son. He didn't want this predator coming after his son, to get at him despite the fact that his son was a capable fighter, his son in all of his experience had never fought an entity that was like Shang Tsung. He didn't want all of the blood, sweat, emotional scars, and sacrifices that the two of them went through to make sure kept Takeda safe from the Red Dragons to be pointless.

At first Kenshi had thought that it was best for him to deny the fact that he had a son, but he quickly banished that thought from his mind. He knew that Shang Tsung would eventually dig it out of him so it was best for him to come out with it, but Kenshi would play him just as he would play him.

"If I did have a son, how would you know about it? You were dead during that time period," mused Kenshi.

"Oh, swordsman, do you think it is wise for you to play mind games with me, you of all people know that I have centuries upon centuries of life experience to help me out. What do you have to help you out, a bunch of centuries old dead kings that almost nobody knows about?" Mocked Shang Tsung.

Kenshi quashed the urge to lash out at the sorcerer for the mocking of his ancestors, which he was quite proud of, but Kenshi couldn't deny the fact that he was right about his ancestors, they were pretty much a bunch of unknown monarchs. While that was true, but in his research about them he found out that while they ruled their kingdoms, their kingdoms were united under one flag and were at peace from within and from without. The ones that did have some fame toward their names were only known in the countries and/or the regions that they ruled in.

"You might be right about my bloodline, at least they choose to become one with Sento, they choose to help me out and discover my latent talent, they still choose to stay with me and aide in battle, that is something that I can't say about the souls that you took. I wonder how many of those souls, aware that they can't escape their imprisonment give you false information to trip you up, to slow you up, or even lead you down a path that might lead you to a person like me," said Kenshi.

"You are wrong about that one, none of the souls would trick me, and if they did I would know about," said Shang Tsung.

Kenshi mentally laughed at that one, for he knew that if he somehow found himself absorbed into Shang Tsung he would fight with everything that he had with all of the tricks that he had to make Shang Tsung's life horrible.

"If you insist on this mind game, than I will tell you this, if I did know about your hypothetical son who would you think I got it from," said Shang Tsung.

With that Kenshi knew how Shang Tsung found out about his son, Takeda, it came from Ermac, since his son had interacted with him. How Ermac figures out that Takeda was his son, Kenshi knew that Ermac, despite its creation was an intelligent entity that would of been able to see the similarly between his chin and the shape of their mouths between the two of them to safely assume that the two of them were somehow related to each other.

"If that is so, than I can safely assume that it would be Ermac once again, that might be the case," said Kenshi that thought that this might be the thing that would trip up him.

"Again, swordsman, if we are talking about theories than yes he would be the one that told me about how the world had change in the past 25 years," said Shang Tsung.

Once again Shang Tsung had defeated his latest metal assault, but Kenshi wasn't going to let this simple defeat stop him. While Shang Tsung had defeated him in the direct assault, but the soul stealer had let some slip through, that he was totally dependant on Ermac about the world, now the swordsman didn't know if this was an accident, or it might something that was done on purpose to trick him up. No matter what, this was something that Kenshi had to seize on this and fault Shang Tsung on this.

"And you believe him? You believe the things that he might of say while under stress while the souls that kept him alive that were being ripped out of him by you. He might of say anything to make you stop it. You can't totally believe that things that people said while under torture for they will say anything to stop it," mused Kenshi. "If that is so, than how do you know if I really do have a son, maybe that is something that he showed you so that you would spare his life. If that is a lie, than what else you saw from him might be a lie as well."

Kenshi waited a couple of seconds for Shang Tsung to strike back with another quick snappy response to what he said to him.

"Nothing to said to this, no quick and snappy response to my own metal assault on your story, no formidable come back to me to prove that you have a far better wit than mine," voiced Kenshi. "If that is so, than you must be offended by the fact that a blind man that has a fragment of a life span when compare to yours had bested you in a war of words."

"You and your ancestors win this one, swordsman, but when we meet again the outcome might not be the same," said Shang Tsung.

Kenshi felt that he should of done a little smile just to rub it in Shang Tsung's face, but he fought the urge to do so, knowing the fact that this was a dream and if he did it, what would he get out of it.

"Yes you are right about that one, for our swords will do that talking instead of our words," said Kenshi.

"Oh, any it won't be just us, it will be your son and me, because I would love to meet him, tell him about our relationship," mocked Shang Tsung. "I'll think it will break his heart to learn what I did to you and your family."

Kenshi smiled on the inside about this, he had already told Takeda about the real reason behind his blindness when he was 18 years old, almost five years ago. If Shang Tsung had thought that this would cause Takeda to have his will broken he would be sadly disappointed for Takeda had already known about it and part of him wanted to tell Shang Tsung that he had already spoken to Takeda about this, to stick it in his face to prove Shang Tsung that he could be just as clever as soul steeler was. But his practical side of his head told him to keep it to himself and only laugh in the face of the sole stealer when he thought that he had an edge over the Takaskaski family to only have it blow up in his face.

"And delight in the emotional pain that it will cause him," continued Shang Tsung.

Kenshi remained silent at the sound of the voice, allowing the sorcerer to speak to dig himself a deeper hole.

"In his gloom, I'll come in and take him away from you, leaving you a broken shell of a man," said Shang Tsung.

With that Kenshi felt something inside of him snap and his paternal instincts kick in when his son was threaten by the one thing in the entire universe that he hated more than the Red Dragon.

"If you harm one signal hair on him, you'll regret the day that you stole your first soul," growled Kenshi.

Then Kenshi woke up from the lucid dream and like so many times before he was quickly reminded that he was still blind. He quickly got over it, he used his other senses to judge the environment and found out that it was the same as it was before he drifted off to sleep. The fire was still lit and being tended by Taven, and Takeda was lying on the ground still sleeping despite the ruff environment.

 _Thank the gods_ he said to himself as he walked toward Taven.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Asked Taven.

"Yes," answered Kenshi, while trying to wake up his son, hiding the fact of the nightmare that he just had.

"Well, I'm not surprise considering what the two of you have been through," commented Taven.

Kenshi nudged his son again and like before he got nothing from him.

"Don't brother, I tried to wake him up earlier, he seems to be a heavy sleeper or the metal burden of today is finally getting to him," said Taven.

"Could be," mused Kenshi.

 _Maybe, I could reach him telepathic_ thought Kenshi and then with a second thought, he concluded that it was best not to do so. Because he had no clue how Takeda's mind would view his message to him and also he didn't know if Taven was a telepath like he was. It was hard enough for him to explain that he was a telekinetic swordsman despite his blindness to the guy, which he was fine with. But, Kenshi figures it was the fact that Taven himself was a half-god, it shouldn't have surprise him that a person with his rare position in life could exist in the first place.

"Any case, I think it is best for him to wake up on his own than force it on him," said Taven.

Kenshi nodded his head at that and Taven was right about that. So as much as Kenshi wanted to wake up his son and tell him about the dream that he had. It would better for him to assimilate all of the information with a clear and rested mind rather than one that was all shaken up.

So Kenshi did that only thing that he could do right now, and that was to sit down at the fire with Taven. While Taven was at this time his ally, for the two of them wanted to kill Daegon for different reasons, Kenshi still didn't completely trust him.

"You're an interesting one," said Taven.

"What do you mean?" Asked Kenshi.

"I mean, I might be awake in this world for about a week and technology advancements that your realm have are godlike, but I can guess that somebody like you, with your type of mind powers doesn't happen all of to often, or dose it run in your family," answered Taven.

Kenshi became slightly suspicious about Taven's line of questions. "What are you suggesting about me?"

"That you are different in this realm and somebody that collect things like that might of eyed you up without your knowledge," answered Taven.

That idea made the swordsman a little uneasy to think that out there, there was a person or a group that was devoted to collecting rare things among the different realms, no matter if they were living or not. In addition it didn't help his state of mind with that fact that he might be on that list and that there might be somebody whom job was to track him down to the point that he was worth the effort to collect.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Kenshi. "That's there someone or some group of people that is out there that whom sole purpose in their lives is to collect rare things? And I might be on that list?"

"No, I didn't say that, but I do suggest that you watch your back," warned Taven. "For you have a target on your back."

 _That's nothing new_ said Kenshi to himself. He had a target painted on his back ever since the day that his cover was blown while he was inside of the Red Dragon and maybe it's gotten bigger since he had removed the head of the group that he recently found out was a half-god Edenian.

"Tell me something that I don't know," said a sarcastic Kenshi that felt that Taven's warning was a waste of both of their time and didn't hesitant express the disappointment with Taven in the harsh tone of voice.

Getting the hint and knowing that Kenshi was the type of person that one didn't want to get on his angry side, Taven thought that it was best to chance to subject.

"So what do you plan to do when all of this is over?" Asked Taven.

"It's not over yet," started Kenshi.

That answer caught Taven off guard, because Taven thought that once he had killed Daegon off that the Red Dragon was all over with.

"Why?" Asked Taven.

"Because there are still top lieutenants out there, which no doubt knows about what happened here a couple of hours ago and they will try to restart the group. I won't let that happen," answered Kenshi. "What about you?"

"I'll manage and I think helping you out might of made adjusting to this world easier," answered Taven. "Also I need to head back to the Red Dragon base that you discovered the dragon Caro, for I need to free him of his imprisonment. You might not know it, but you and your son have gained a powerful ally with Caro for freeing me."

While Kenshi didn't consider Taven or his guardian dragon Caro as allies he also didn't consider the two of them as enemies either and because of that he didn't want the various different realms to hunt the two of them down. "Yes it would and I think that the two of you should be left alone while you discover this world."

"Thank you, and since you are up, I think it's your turn at watch," said Taven.

"Of course," said Kenshi.

Without saying another world to Kenshi, Taven headed back into the cave and quickly fell asleep.

Once again alone with his thoughts, Kenshi started to think to himself about recent events. Like how was he going to deal with Shang Tsung, now that he was alive and how he was going to deal with the reminding Red Dragon leadership. Then thinking about that group his mind drifted to the Black Dragon, a splinter group that spilt from the Red Dragon because they felt that the Red Dragon's actions weren't violence enough for their liking. He wondered if they knew about this and if they did, there was no doubt they would jump on the opportunity to full the power vacuum. If that happen, Kenshi knew that he would have to go after then as well.

Kenshi's thoughts were interrupted when he heard his son stirring and at the same time he heard his son's thoughts as well. Kenshi quickly scan the thoughts of his son and he found out that unlike him, Takeda's dream was a pleasant one and center around Jacqui, his girlfriend. With that Kenshi thought that it was best for him to leave those thoughts to his son.

"I can see that you are up," said Kenshi.

Takeda shook his head and rubbed his eyes as he quickly adjusted to the dimly lit cave. Then he saw that his father was sitting down at the fire and with that he had thought that he had somehow overslept.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Takeda.

"You didn't do anything wrong, I couldn't sleep," said Kenshi.

"Your insomnia?" Asked Takeda.

"Yes," answered Kenshi.

"I sorry to bring this up, but I would like to know what are going to do after all of this?" Asked Takeda.

"I've been doing some thinking on that subject matter as well," answered Kenshi as he placed another log onto the fire so that they could keep the fire going.

Takeda knew that this could mean anything when his father brought up the word "thinking' in any statement and so he braced himself for anything, but when he dropped the bombshell about the real origins of his blindness when he was 18 years old, there was nothing that his father could tell him that would sock him.

"So what have you been thinking about?" Asked Takeda.

"Well with the fact that we took out the Red Dragon leader and one would think that we should be done with them, but a part of me thinks we aren't done with them yet," answered Kenshi.

"Oh great," said Takeda. "So we have to hunt more of them done and why? You would think killing their leader, would break them considering the fact that they worship him as a living God."

"Yes one would think that it would break them, and most of the time it would of have but when you were with the Shirai Ryu, I ran into numerous of Red Dragon foot soldiers that would rather die than give up the location of Daegon. With that kind of zealot attitude that they think about him, I think they will continue to do their duty despite the fact that he is dead and some might think it's a lie, or think him as a martyr, which is far more dangerous . This is the reason why I took this," said Kenshi. After that he reach toward the left side of his body with his right hand and pull at a dagger, but not any normal dagger, this was a ceremonial one, that showed off that power that Daegon had with this group.

Takeda knew that after the depth of Daegon, Kenshi took the time to loot the body of the dead leader of the Red Dragon and he saw that his father had token three things off of his body. One of them was an amethyst pendent, which Kenshi explained to Takeda was one of few gifts that he bestowed to Suchin, the second one was Daegon's broken sword and the third one was this dagger that he was holding at this moment. He could see that it had the basic design of any dagger, it had a hilt and a blade, but that was the only thing that it shared.

For the hilt of the dagger was in the shape of a Chinese dragon's hand and with two of the claws forming a straight line with two of them outstretch, and the middle one was in the center of the triangle shape blade itself, there was the symbol of the Red Dragon written in blood red.

"Because when I show them this they will that Daegon is dead and might come after me, knowing that _I_ was the one that delivered the final blow to him," continue Kenshi and then he put the thing back.

"But that might be the lease of our worries, for we might have to deal with the Black Dragon for they might take opportunity to take the power that the Red Dragon used to have," said Kenshi."Just with the Red Dragon we won't allow that to happen."

Takeda nodded his head at that. "Okay, I'll work with you _if_ this happens."

Kenshi welcomed that, for when he had killed Daegon he had totally expected Takeda wouldn't stick around with him when he would continue on his quest to rid the realms of monsters like the Red Dragons.

"Thank you, it will be nice to work with another person and because of that I have something major to tell you," said Kenshi.

"What do you mean?" Asked Takeda.

"I had a lucent dream that told me that Shang Tsung, despite the fact that he had been dead for the past 25 years had come back to live," answered Kenshi.

Takeda knew the history between him and his father and how relive his father was when he found out that the thief of their ancestors was dead.

"How is that possible? I thought that the only known person that can bring people back from the dead is the former Khan or Quan Chi, which are both dead," said Takeda.

"He didn't tell me exactly how he did it, but I figure out that he stole the souls that were within Ermac, his very own creation," answered Kenshi. "Why or how it happen, I don't know and quite frankly I don't give a dam how it happen."

With that Takeda was a little worry about his father, that this news might drive him into a destructive furry of anger that only cared about one thing, the death of Shang Tsung and would burn anything or anybody that would be foolish to stand in his way. During the five years working and interacting with his father he found out that while yes, he was a placid person that would go with the flow that was at peace with his blindness that despite it, could have a face to face conversation with a person that could see with their eyes. Even with that Takeda had learned a hard fact about his father, that deep inside of him, there was a hidden anger, a furry that would burn white hot without remorse or a care to anybody or anything that had wronged him in any fashion.

"Dad or you okay?" Asked Takeda.

Kenshi sighed. "No, I'm not, because I thought that since he was dead the realms were safer when he was alive and now that he is alive they aren't."

"What are you going to do? What do you think he will do?" Asked Takeda.

"I'm going kill the bastard, there is no doubt about it and with Shang Tsung I think he is going to buy his time, the world had change for him, He's not an idiot, he knows that he relieves whom he is, he won't last long," said Kenshi.

"Are you going to tell the rest of our friends and allies about him?" Asked Takeda.

Kenshi paused to think about this, he knew that both of them knew that he wasn't a normal person and if he got a feeling about anything it was something that they should be looked into. But, he also knew that there could be people that he considered to be either his friends or allies that wouldn't believe him.

"I think they should know about this, but it going to be hard for them to believe it and they are going to ask me about how do I know about it," answered Kenshi.

"You told me that they know about Sento," said Takeda. "Because of that you have a connection to the how The universe works."

"Yes that is true, but the brass will want more than what they would call spectral evidence, for they will say that I could of seen anything in that dream. If I claim that it was my ancestors inside of Sento warning me about Shang Tsung and they will claim the same thing or my personal feud with him might of influenced my dream. Or they would want to examine Sento to know how it works, and that is something that _I_ won't allow to happen," said Kenshi. "We are going to need physical evidence that he is back."

"And how are we going to do that since we won't have the resources of the SF to help us?" Asked Takeda.

Kenshi stood up from the log that he was sitting on and slightly bowed his head. With that Takeda knew that his father was focusing on something and that sent off an alert for the younger Takahashi, which there might be something or someone out there listing to them, which could be anybody, the two of them had made quite a few opponents today.

Taking a hint, Takeda put his forefinger in the center of his forehead and open up a metal link between him and his father.

 _What going on with you Dad_? Mentally asked Takeda.

Kenshi put up his hand up and Takeda knew what that meant, that he should hold up until he when finished scanning the area, which he did.

Inside of his mind, Kenshi had beckoned his sprit vision and he was able to see the auras of all the things that were animated from the self-conscious entities like themselves, all the way down to the flying insects no matter if they were inside of the cave or outside of it, if it was animated and around this place, he would be able to sense it. He was able to see that there were no undiscovered people that were lurking around waiting like a tiger to pounce on its prey, no evil ancient sprits that called this place home or demons, they were truly alone in this place.

After that he looked toward Taven to see if he was still asleep and he found out that he was.

 _Nothing at this time_ answered Kenshi. _And I was checking to see if there were any unseen forces around here that might of appeared while the two of us were sleeping_.

 _Is there_? Asked Takeda. _And why?_

"No," answered Kenshi with his spoken voice. "Because the two of us have a lot more foes than the remaining Red Dragon forces and I don't want them to know what I have planed in dealing with Shang Tsung."

"What do have planed?" Asked Takeda.

"I have a few favors in Outworld that I need to cash in," answered Kenshi as he sat back down to the fire. "And they know how to seek information under the nose of Kotal and to us. In addition they know that I am the type of person that you don't say no when I ask for a favor."

Takeda looked at his father in awe, once again his father had surprised him how resourceful he was, but he also knew that it shouldn't have come to surprise him in the long run. For during the five years that Kenshi had trained him to control his telepathy, he had mention several times that before he was approached by SF he was a sword for hire for various different clients that had took him to the different realms and because of the business that he did, he had both gain allies and foes that would seek him out.

"Do you trust them?" Asked Takeda.

"Some of them I do, some of I can't be to sure, and some I don't, but don't worry about it, my son. I know how to deal with them and 'convince' them to help me out," answered Kenshi.

Takeda nodded his head at that because he knew that his father had a lot of tools in his arsenal rather than his metal powers, to pull strings to get people that didn't like him to work for or with him.

"What about Taven? What do you think about him?" Inquired his son, Takeda.

Kenshi signed. "I don't know, I trust him up to this point because our goals had aligned, but now, I don't know. What will he do after all of this, I cannot say, he's a wild card and I get some strange feelings with my instincts because of that."

Takeda raised an eyebrow at the sound of this. "What do you mean by that Dad?"

Kenshi once again signed. "Takeda whenever I interact with anybody," he pointed toward his son. "And Takeda you will feel this when you get more comfortable with your telepathy, from a human to an Edenian I get a sensation that I can best describe as I know that they exist and with him I don't get that feeling."

"Have you experience something like that before?" Asked Takeda.

"Yes I have, Daegon," answered Kenshi plainly.

"Well that makes sense, since Taven claims that he was his brother. Is there another time?"Asked Takeda.

"Yes, with Fujin and Raiden, but they at least have the sensibly to change their state of being when they are in my presence," answered Kenshi. "With Taven, I don't know if he can do that, or even if he is aware that his presence is doing that to me. Besides, Takeda that's not the point, the point is _why_ I don't know if either of them exists or not."

With that Takeda got a sudden chill down his spine and that caused the younger Takahashi to relieve his memories that involve Taven. With that he thought back to the time when he had freed him out of the rock and brought him to his father to talk about the situation. At that time Takeda was interested in his story and why a _real_ red dragon had sent the two of them to that cave, not to the location of the stalagmite where Taven was encase it, not to the body language that his father was doing at that time. Now thinking about it with the knowledge of his father's feeling and the ably that his father had told him about telepaths, how they can control their memories, to see it at all viewpoints. At that moment he was able to see his father and his body language while Taven was talking to them. Takeda could see the facial reaction of his father that was a mixture of strain, like he was trying to figure out a complex audio puzzle, and anxiety while trying to maintain a stoic statue to Taven, not waiting this guy to be able to read him. Seeing this, Takeda started to wonder who or what was Taven and what was the real reason behind his being imprison in that stalagmite in the first place. Yes he had told that Daegon had killed both of their parents, who was Argus the former guardian deity of Edenia and Delia yet another Edenian whom was a powerful sorceress, that it was his father who had imprison him and his brother in stalagmites. But, the telepath wondered was there anything that he was hiding about the two of them and was it the right thing to do when they had set him free to help in killing Daegon.

He knew that both of them could of ask him was there anything else about him that he didn't mention earlier, and Taven could say nothing about it. Both of them would try read him to see if he was telling the truth and with the fact that his father was unable to known for sure if he was real or not, he wouldn't be able to know if he was lying or not.

"That's a scary thing about him," said Takeda.

"Yes it is and while you were reliving your memories, I've made the choice that when we head out at first light we will end our alliance with Taven, but on good terms, I don't want to make him an opponent, if we did, I think it would be a bad idea to do so. But, I will suggest that we should have several people to keep an eye on him," said Kenshi in a stern voice.

Takeda nodded his head at that and while he would of like some more time with Taven to get known more about him. But with his father's deadpan serious voice had told him that he wouldn't have that chance at this time and a part of him wanted to protest this action, citing that he was letting his emotional side that was clouding his judgement on the subject of Taven, that he should at least him a second chance. Yet, another part of him had told him that those feelings, those instincts that his father had, had kept the two of them alive and after the fight that they had, almost five years ago, he had never once driven the two of them in the wrong direction, never once forced his own personal opinions on him. Yes, he would share them when Takeda would ask about it or when he had ask his father for advice on difference subjects, when he got his father's point of view he would inform his father with a quick nod of his head, his father would end the subject.

"Do you think they will listen to you about Taven?" Asked Takeda.

"With Taven, I think they will because of two reasons, one he help us kill the leader of the Red Dragon, and two they will think it is strange that a person could survive being imprison inside of solid rock for that long," answered Kenshi.

* * *

Next hours went by uneventful with the two of them taking the time to meditate on things and when Kenshi had sense the warmth of the sun's first ray of light hit him he finished up his meditation. After that he told his son that it was time to go and that he should wake up Taven and Takeda did that for his father. Taven reacted toward Takeda's actions by with a quick nod of his head and in a matter of seconds the man got up from the cave's floor. Then the three of them reached the outside of the cave and when they did the trio found out that the environment didn't change while they were sleeping.

"You were right to head out in the morning, we'll make up for lost time," said Taven.

Kenshi nodded his head at that, concealing his uneasy feelings about this guy. "Thank you, but Taven, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Asked Taven.

"I think it is time that our alliance should of end," answered Kenshi that was trying to judge how he was acting toward this and like before he couldn't get anything from him. Being a fully aware telepath, Kenshi was nervous about this guy not knowing how he would react to this forced him to expect anything from him.

Taven just nodded his head at that. "Understood, we achieve our goals and that's what any good alliance should do. I appreciate yours and your son's help with this matter."

Kenshi mentally sighed at this, he took this news pretty well, but still kept his stoic appearance, not waiting to tip Taven off about his emotions. "You are welcome and before we go on our own ways. I have a question for you."

"What is it?" Asked Taven.

"What will you do after you free Caro, this is a brand-new world for you," offered Kenshi.

"You are right, I think I should explore this world to see what it has to offer to the two of us,"answered Taven.

Kenshi knew that call of wanderlust all to well and how it would lead one in some really interesting places that would teach one about themselves or the world itself.

"I think that it would be good for you, since you have been what is refer to as 'out of the loop', for quite a few centuries. But, I offer you some advice before you head off if you hear anything that's about a myth or a legend, stay away from them no matter how interesting they may sound to you," said Kenshi.

For a third time Taven nodded his head at that and then the older brother of Daegon started to walk away from the two telepaths into a world that he had no clue how it would great him, the only thing that he knew was the fact that he wouldn't be alone in his joinery, for Caro would be with him on the ride. This also open up a possibly, if Caro was alive, it could mean that Orin, the other guardian dragon could be alive somewhere on Earth and if that was the case, than he would seek him out.

While that was nice, a sickening thought that cross the mind of the son of Argus, another thought had crossed his mind, the prophecy that was centered around the two of them, would it come true now, since he had killed his younger brother and he knew if the prophecy had to be resolved it needed both of them to be alive. Now since he was dead, did he break it or will faith find a way to make it happen despite all of his efforts. He just didn't know and a part of him loved this, not be a slave to a series of words written down before he was born that chained him to a signal path no matter what he did, to be free to pick his own path. But another part of him had warned him that somebody or something will make that prophecy happen despite the death of his brother and because of that a sick thought had crossed his mind. Maybe this Kenshi person and his son could be the things that would set this prophecy into motion without them knowing about it.

 _No_ he firmly thought about the two of them. _It can't be, no they might be formidable mortals that don't know the full power of their bloodline that has blessed them with astonishing gifts. But they are still mortals that really care about this realm and I think they will die in the defense of this realm. They would never deliberately put this realm in danger._

When he thought about the two of them, any doubt about the sincerity about the two of them was quickly removed from his mind. Even with that Taven knew that he would cross path with the Takahashi family again, in fact he wanted it to happen, to see the progress that they made with the power that came from their birth right. Especially with Kenshi and Sento, Taven had noted that Kenshi was a gifted swordsman that was at ease with the power that was given to him by Sento, but he had notice that he hasn't fully mastered what the blade could do for him.

* * *

"Well that went better than I thought," said Takeda.

"Yes it did," said Kenshi with a bit of surprise about it. "I thought that he would of fought me a little about keeping our alliance past our joint operation."

Takeda was able to pick up his father's concerned tone of voice. "What do you mean by that?"

"Something tells me that this won't be the last time that we will cross paths with this son of Argus," answered Kenshi as he used his sprit vision to see if he was able to track Taven's aura and he was able to so. With that he was able to see that without the two of them walking and talking with him, that Taven was able to make quick progress over hilly terrain.

"What give you that notion?" Asked Takeda.

"Because Taven is the type of character that you just don't meet once in a lifetime," answered Kenshi. "Moreover our ancestors are saying the same thing as well."

Takeda nodded his head at that. "Okay, so I can safely assume that we'll work on the remaining lieutenants of the Red Dragons?"

His father turn to face him and with that Takeda got a sudden chill with the stone cold look on his father's face, that meant that it was back to business with his father. "Yes we should."


End file.
